Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for people dropping grass-fed butter and coconut/MCT oil into their high-quality coffee, blending it all up into a high-octane mug of frothiness, but I just can’t get into it. If we’re talking coffee additives, I prefer my butter in the form of cream. That’s me. I definitely see the appeal of it, though, and I’m sold on the merits of the drink and its components. It’s just not for me.

However, the idea of adding non-traditional fatty food items to coffee intrigued me, so I decided to explore other options. Eventually, I landed on eggs.

Egg yolks are excellent emulsifiers. There’s the egg yolk lecithin, a famous emulsifier, plus several different egg yolk proteins with emulsification properties. Good yolks are prized by top chefs around the world primarily for their emulsifying ability. Egg yolks smooth out sauces, salad dressings, and relations between bitter enemies like oil and water. That’s right: egg yolks are the great unifiers of the food world. Throw some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper into a bowl, whisk it all together, and you’ll have a lovely stratified bowl of fluids of different shades. Oh, they might appear to blend together into a dressing for a second or two, but once you look away, the old immutable divisions will rear their heads and the dressing will disappear. Add an egg yolk or two, though? You’ll get a silky smooth salad dressing that remains so for time immemorial.

If you don’t have a blender but still want a smooth, creamy coffee drink, hand-frothing an egg yolk with a fork or whisk will get you there. Hand-frothing butter and coconut oil requires vigorous labor and may not even achieve full emulsification.

Eggs are incredible sources of micronutrients. While I love grass-fed butter, cream, and coconut oil, they aren’t exactly micronutrient-dense. The best butter contains beneficial nutrients like vitamin A, omega-3s, vitamin K2, and butyric acid, while coconut oil is a unique source of medium chain triglycerides, but for the most part we eat those foods because they are sources of stable, healthful saturated fats. They provide energy. Egg yolks, on the other hand, are baby bird building blocks. They contain everything you need to build an entire working animal from scratch – all the vitamins, minerals, protein, and fatty acids that make life work. And, if you get a pastured egg – which you should if you know what’s good for (and your omelets) – your yolk will be supercharged, with extra choline, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin K2, omega-3 fats, vitamin D, and beta-carotene from all the bugs and greens the chickens ate.

I love eggs, particularly the yolks, and enjoy adding them to everything. They’re a solid, dependable, go-to breakfast item, they’re good for you, and they taste great. What more can you want? That’s why they ended up on my list of foods I couldn’t live without, and that’s why they ended up in my coffee. In the end, I just love eggs, and since I already add them to just about everything, I figured “why not coffee?”

Are there any potential problems with adding eggs to coffee?

Oxidation springs to mind. Not only are you subjecting egg yolks to heat, you’re also whipping oxygen into them. It seems like the perfect storm of lipid oxidation, no?

I’m actually not too worried. First of all, the coffee really isn’t very hot. It’s well under boiling.

Third, the actual blending/frothing only takes place for a few seconds. It’s relatively short-lived, probably not long enough to be a problem.

Fourth, the vitamin E in egg yolks is there to prevent oxidation. It’s quite good at it. Coincidentally, this is why you should get pastured eggs if possible. The yolks of pastured eggs contain upwards of four times the vitamin E found in standard battery egg yolks.

What about raw egg white’s tendency to bind biotin? Raw egg whites have the well-publicized ability to bind biotin (found in the yolk) and prevent its absorption. Luckily, the binding ability of avidin begins to break down at 158 ºF (70 ºC) and is almost completely degraded at 185 ºF (85 ºC). Since coffee is ideally brewed with water running between 190 and 200 ºF, the finished product should be able to keep avidin from binding your biotin.

But why eggs and coffee?

I stumbled upon something I had never heard of until recently – Vietnamese Egg Coffee – and decided to experiment in the kitchen.

Now, let’s get right to the recipes themselves. As you’ll see, they’re not all that complex. You’re basically just adding eggs or egg yolks to coffee. Still, though, read on to see exactly how I did it.

Primal Egg Yolk Coffee

I did a little playing around with this and tried several different recipes. In the end, I think I came up with a solid recipe. Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup (350 ml) coffee

3 pastured egg yolks

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

First, I brewed the coffee (35 grams of coffee beans – I used a light roast, single-origin bean) in a French press. Dumped the grinds in, added about 350 ml of water, gave it a quick stir, covered it, and let it sit for three minutes. Meanwhile, I separated the yolks from the whites. Once the coffee was ready, I dumped it in a blender, set it to “low,” and dropped in the yolks. After a few seconds, I added a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt (around a quarter teaspoon) and let it blend a bit more. Then, I poured it, admired the head of foam, and got to drinking.

I tried fewer yolks and found the brew too thin. I tried more yolks and found it to be unnecessary. Three yolks was perfect. If you want to switch things up, you can add something a little sweet like I did. I added my usual teaspoon of sugar, plus a quarter teaspoon of Himalayan sea salt. Honey, maple syrup, or stevia should all work well, too. The salt may sound odd, but trust me: it just works as long as you use a little sweetness to counterbalance it.

Primal Whole Egg Coffee

Think of this as a whole foods-based protein shake. Ingredients:

1 cup (240 ml) coffee

2 pastured eggs

1 tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

I started by beating the eggs together, whole, as if you were making scrambled eggs. You could also blend them. For a 1 cup dose of coffee, I did two whole eggs. Once the eggs are beaten or blended, slowly drizzle in the coffee. You don’t want to cook the eggs. You want them to stay creamy. If you’re really concerned about the avidin in the raw white, dump the coffee in to ensure maximal heat exposure. Otherwise, just drizzle.

I think a higher egg:coffee ratio (using a large shot of espresso, for example) for a stronger coffee flavor would work really well. Also, two eggs in this recipe created a nice and creamy concoction. I suspect three eggs might even be better.

Again, I added a little sweetener plus some salt. It made the coffee taste a bit like a liquified custard. Really, really tasty.

Adding Other Ingredients

I also tried out a few other additions to the brews, to see how they meshed with the eggs. Consider adding these:

Use Caution!

In the course of research for this post, I ingested five eggs plus five extra yolks along with several cups of moderately strong coffee. I don’t know if it was just an excessive amount of coffee or if the caffeine was potentiated by the phospholipids in the yolks, but I felt like I was under the influence of… something. Although it was a good feeling, a productive feeling, to be sure, I could see it getting out of hand if taken too far. This is potent stuff. A cup or two is probably ideal, at least for me.

“Sugar – really?”

Don’t worry about a little sugar, even the white stuff. The amount I added, a teaspoon, is just four grams of sucrose. And, if you use an actual food like honey or maple syrup, which have different (improved) metabolic effects compared to plain white sugar, the potential downsides of ingesting sugar are lessened even more. Besides, you can always use a non-caloric sweetener like stevia, which has its own set of benefits.

Since writing this article a few weeks back, I’ve begun rotating egg yolk coffee into my morning routine. I don’t have it every day, but do have it several times a week, particularly if I have a busy day ahead of me where optimal productivity is required. Whole egg coffee seems to work well pre-workout, boosting energy, motivation, and providing a nice source of branched-chain amino acids for the training ahead.

What about you, folks? Want to give this a shot? Ever tried this yourself? Got any tips to improve my recipes? If you do try it, let me know in the comment section how it works out!

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Imagine you’re George Clooney. Take a moment to admire your grooming and wit. Okay, now imagine someone walks up to you and asks, “What’s your name?” You say, “I’m George Clooney.” Or maybe you say, “I’m the Clooninator!” You don’t say “I’m George of George Clooney Sells Movies Blog” and you certainly don’t say, “I’m Clooney Weight Loss Plan”. So while spam is technically meat, it ain’t anywhere near Primal. Please nickname yourself something your friends would call you.

Its worth a try. It’d be nice to have a different way to get more eggs in the diet.

I have been trying to go without milk or cream in my coffee, since it worsens my asthma, but never liked a substitute like coconutmilk, it was just not tasting right to me. I also never liked to fatty taste of it. I will try this recipe out for sure, hopefully I will like it, can’t go without coffee forever and don’t like to drink it dark either.

I AM LOVING THIS! I used to do the BP coffee but found that I would get nauseous around lunch time and I had to eat some fruit or something with a little carbs/sugar in it to get my appetite back. I tried the egg coffee after you suggested it and it is awesome! It staves off hunger for a long enough time but my appetite naturally returns in time for lunch. It also tastes great and gives me more focus and energy then coffee alone. I am doing 2 egg yolks (the dogs are loving the whites in the am ), cinnamon, vanilla extract, and a little MCT Oil, and this morning I put a packet of Stevia in it and that was great too. I found a new go to, thanks for the suggestion Mark!

I did find, after using Irish Breakfast tea, that there was a bit of an eggy aftertaste. Next time I’d add some vanilla or something stronger flavor. It was filling though! Held me for about a good 4 hours! Good breakfast replacement once in a while…

Just tried recipe #1 this morning w/ raw honey and a touch of vanilla, as I had run out of coconut oil (gasp) and desperately wanted something in my coffee besides cream. Quite tasty, but the blender is probably too much effort for a normal morning before work (good weekend drink though). Even my husband, who very reluctantly drinks coffee, requested a second sip of this concoction.

I am gona try this Paleo diet for the first time. Normally when I do a diet or rather look at one there is about 90% of the food that I won’t dare put in my mouth ’cause I just don’t eat it. Paleo looks rather like my kind of food to eat everyday. Unfortunately bread and noodles is on of the primary foods in the house that is quick to make and quick to make for lunch. I do love my coffee first thing in the morning and I don’t like to change my coffee taste really. I’m really afraid to try this egg coffee but would like to try it atleast once and give it to my boyfriend in the mornings as well, ’cause he has a huge problem with getting tired early in the day. What can I do to make it tasty? The I want to know what is the story with Ketosis?, mTOR inhibitor? What does that mean and what does it do.

I have long wondered if coffee is a appetite surppresant, is that true?

I finally broke down and tried this. Made version one yesterday and version two this morning… both were really good. IMHO both are much better than BPC. I’ve tried BPC on several occasions and just couldn’t take to it. However, I can see myself getting hooked on egg coffee. Great creamy consistency, great taste and I have to think overall much more nutritious than BPC.

My cardiologist told me that I have high cholesterol, consisting of high LDL (the bad kind), and low HDL (the good kind)

He told me that I should limit myself to eating no more than 2-3 egg yolks per week, as it would be impossible to reduce my cholesterol to a healthy level, including achieving a healthy ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

I tend to think that he is likely right, given his education and training.
So it’s probably a good idea to be careful about what we recommend in any sweeping fashion to everyone, regardless of their health history.

I’ve found making a form of bulletproof coffee to be awesome a few times a week – mainly on my non training days to be amazing. I typically add butter, coconut oil, and some chocolate whey protein sometimes (if feeling like I need a little something).

The idea of egg yoke is so awesome. I see what you mean by the building blocks of life within it. I am going to be looking for some pasturized egg yokes and trying this out very soon! I probably won’t even require any sugar (especially if adding a half scoop of protein powder too).

There were a lot of comments so I was not sure if this was covered, but I am wondering if I can try these recipes with regular eggs because I can’t get ahold of pastured eggs just yet? Also, am I essentially eating raw egg yolk and coffee? Or does the heat from the coffee cook the egg? kind of like egg drop soup? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Read Mark’s primal egg coffee recipe last night and wanted desperately to try it. Chance truly does favor the prepared mind – being unable to go back to sleep at 3:30 AM does have its upside sometimes. What follows is by no means an improvement to Mark’s recipe, it’s just a variation. It was so delicious it had to be written down for future reference – thank you for your inspiring recipe, Mark…1 shot coffee brewed with Aeropress…3 organic egg yolks from un-cracked eggs (Oops! Ended up with a whole egg and 2 yolks because some yolk ended up in one of the whites)…1 tsp sugar (used rounded tsp honey)…1/4 tsp of salt (omitted – it was early and I forgot about it, but want to try salt next time)…3 level flatware tablespoons light coconut milk (too early to locate measuring tools that were put in the wrong place by someone – moi?)…First, feeling paranoid, soaked eggs in Parcell’s Oxygen Soak (1 tsp Clorox in a gallon of water) 20 min while I did aerobics (was trying to work off the melatonin dropped sublingually at 3:30 AM – melatonin can be a big mistake sometimes). Rinsed eggs (even though they should have been soaked in plain water for another 20 min) and brewed coffee (1 scoop medium roast organic through stainless filter, press filled almost to the top with hot water, timed for one minute and then stirred). Separated (most of the) yolks from the whites and plopped them into the blender. Once the coffee was ready, put blender on lowest speed and dumped coffee in as fast as possible. After a few seconds, added that rounded tsp of honey, then blended it too hard. Finally, I poured it, savored it and then wondered whether the overly-abundant head of foam would eventually dissolve into more coffee. Watched foam never liquifies, so I went back to the aerobics after imbibing the LUSCIOUS coffee concoction and writing down the recipe. Can’t think of a better way to start the day! (P.S. Those leftover egg whites are destined to become paleo macaroons for company coming for dinner tonight. Gotta love serendipity!)

Mark – just tried this for the first time yesterday with hot coffee – used two organic eggs, two tablespoons organic unrefined coconut oil, sprinkle of salt, turmeric, cinnamon & nutmeg, and about a teaspoon of maple syrup. I blended everything but the coffee first and then very slowly drizzled 1.5 cups of coffee in. Oh my, this was heaven in a cup. So frothy and crazy delicious! And it kept me full for close to 5 hours!!!

Today, I used cold coffee. Yup, super cold -and you know what? It was even yummier and I didn’t have to drizzle it in. I just threw all of it in my blender and let it rip for about 30 seconds.

I absolutely recommend this drink over the bulletproof coffee, which can make my stomach feel queasy. Oh, and this is my breakfast – no need for anything else! Thank you for the recipe and suggestion.

Tried for the first time today. I’ve been making bulletproof coffee (the first version of a latte type drink that I could give up milk products for…) and do enjoy that also, but this is less effort, no blender required. I’m sure I’ll be drinking this often.

Finally, this morning I had the guts and tried my first egg coffee. Did the 2-whole-egg version with a hint of vanilla, and a pinch of salt and xylitol. Oh, well, and a tablespoon of coconut oil. I was really sceptical at first, but WHOAAAAH!
Incredibly creamy, smoothy and not so eggy as I expectad at all! Thanks, Mark, for the inspiration!

I thought this sounded horrible but I’ll try anything once. I don’t like the taste of butter and I couldn’t see the point of adding coconut/MCT oil- I have a sedentary job and I just don’t need the unnecessary relatively empty calories.
I am far too lazy to separate eggs unless I know I have an immediate use for both parts. So my simple Paleo Coffee recipe was:
-1 cup Decaf coffee (just because it was in the evening) brewed strong in a cafetiere
– 1/2 cup Kako dairy free coconut milk. I find this quite sweet & I don’t usually have my coffee sweetened so I didn’t add any other sweetener
tiny pinch cinnamon
-1 fresh free range egg. I don’t mind raw eggs if they’re fresh & free range. I do wash the shells in warm water before cracking.
I whizzed the coconut milk, egg & cinnamon in a blender. Then I added the hot coffee and briefly blended again. I poured this into a warmed mug (because the final coffee isn’t very hot).
To my surprise it was delicious! I’m a convert and will definitely do this again, and also experiment with some variations.

Did this for my breakfast. Thanks for the recipe. I’m normally pretty unimaginative with my coffee, so the taste was a nice surprise. I especially liked the smell when I added some cinnamon. I swear it opened up my sinuses.

I am really looking forward to trying this, but all of the blenders (whether full size or single serving) say not to use hot liquids in them. Can you recommend a model that is safe to use with hot liquids? Preferably under $100?

Any idea of the pros/cons of mixing with cold coffee? I’m living in Hanoi, and travelling, I’d really like to find a primal/bulletproof coffee alternative (quality MCT oil or even butter, let alone grass-fed, is non-existent here) that I can make with limited resources… and to suit the temperature

I know this thread is old but a few weeks ago I experimented with bulletproof coffee. I already had some good quality MCT oil. Bought the Kerrygold my local supermarket. Got my coffee beans online from a company called grounds for change.like Mark I am definitely a cream girl. the coffee was nothing special and I actually had a tough time getting it all down. I originally tried ghee but it tasted like rancid butter. PS the bulletproof coffee seem to pack on pounds even though I only used have a tablespoon of either Kerrygold or MCT or coconut oil. I will stick to my coffee with low fat half and half.I’m starting paleo today. sorry for the random comments. Happy new year

I use a heaping tablespoon of butter and coconut oil for every cup of coffee (2 a day) and have found that it keeps the pounds off for me. Since winter I’ve been adding an egg to one or both of them for extra protein to keep me warm and still no more pounds added. I can pack on the pounds if I don’t eat enough veggies and protein consistently so I just add a bit more of each. As you can tell I do NOT live to eat, it’s more of a chore so the bulletproof coffee is right up my alley so to speak.
And thanks for the extra info on the coffee, it didn’t sound like you were disappointed with the coffee company to me in the above comment.

just to clarify the bulletproof coffee recipe and resulting taste was okay. I highly recommend the coffee I got from grounds for change. they roast the beans the very day you order the coffee from them. It is excellent quality coffee with fantastic flavor. I ordered several flavors all regularly caffeinated and 1 d calf. I wanted to clarify that lest a reader think that the grounds for change coffee was mediocre. Far from it. It is no more expensive than the large corporate overpriced coffee houses but far more environmentally friendly.they also support fair trade

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